Aid workers have warned that the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Yemeni city of Taiz is turning unmanageable as the population runs out of drinking water, gas, and fresh food. Iran-allied Houthi forces have largely encircled the city, which is home to more than 900,000 people, cutting off the vast majority of supply routes.
Heavy fighting raged around the city’s old airport, causing extensive damage in a densely populated residential area. The conflict intensified after forces loyal to the internationally recognised government and the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on the Houthi-held airport in Sana’a in July. That military action shattered a 2022 ceasefire deal that had largely halted active fighting.
Fatma Jaffar, a Yemen-based advocacy manager for Oxfam, said local staff described an almost total siege. All main entrances to the city have been blocked, and clashes continue with very high casualties. Even residents with financial resources cannot buy food because market supplies are extremely limited.
No fuel has entered Taiz for two or three weeks, and drinking water has become a massive issue, according to Jaffar. Hospitals are struggling without medicines, resulting in many deaths. Efforts to evacuate people wounded by missiles have failed due to the blockade.
Prices have rocketed inside the city. A 20-litre container of petrol that cost about $20 before the crisis now trades for $80 on the hidden market, while potato prices have doubled. Garbage is piling up because waste cannot be transferred outside the city, and residents are attempting to burn the refuse, raising fears of diseases such as cholera.
The United Nations has called for aid workers to be granted access to the city. Oxfam in London urged the United Kingdom to send extra humanitarian aid. The UK allocated £104m in aid to Yemen for each of the next three years, down from £196m in 2020. Meanwhile, the United States aid programme has been virtually wiped out, and Germany has halved its funding.
The UK government allocated an unspecified sum in extra military help to Saudi Arabia to protect its airports and infrastructure. However, London has yet to decide on backing a more robust military response, including the possible deployment of foreign ground troops.
The Halo Trust stated that 30 of its staff members are among the hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped inside Taiz. Oxfam has been forced to shift its limited resources from development to emergency humanitarian work, including cash transfers.
In the United States, the State Department requested no economic support or development assistance specifically for Yemen in its fiscal year 2027 budget request to Congress. This contrasts with roughly $760m in total aid committed during the final year of the Biden presidency.
United Nations diplomats continue to mediate between the two sides. Neither the Houthis nor the internationally recognised government show any sign of readiness for a ceasefire or a long-term settlement.
